Lots of fragments of research into the Hollow River Cipher to pass your way.
The Monthly Chronologer
Even though I haven’t (yet) had a chance to go into the British Library to trawl through 1738 newspapers, I did recently find scans via Google Books of a monthly magazine from 1738 called “The Monthly Chronologer”, which (seems to me to have) summarized information from official sources such as the London Gazette. It was also bound inbetween copies of a different monthly magazine called The London Magazine, which collected together news, articles, poems, overseas (though mainly political) news from a wide variety of different publications around the UK.
So, what do we find in the May 1738 edition of the Monthly Chronologer?
The short version is that there was indeed (it appears) a Royal Proclamation dating from the start of May 1738 relating to piracy in the Atlantic. Rather than the summary that I quoted before, the address to the King from the House of Lords was as follows (in the official Parliamentary History of England), all dated 2nd May 1738 and apparently published in London 4th May 1738:
Most gracious Sovereign ;
We your Majesty’s most dutiful and loyal subjects, the Lords Spiritual and Temporal in Parliament assembled, having taken into our serious consideration the many unjust violences and depredations committed by the Spaniards, upon the persons, ships and effects of divers of your Majesty’s subjects in America, have come to the following Resolutions, which we beg leave in the humblest manner to lay before your Majesty, for your royal consideration, viz.
1. Resolved, That the subjects of the Crown of Great Britain have a clear and undoubted right to navigate in the American seas, to and from any part of his Majesty’s dominions ; and for carrying on such trade and commerce, as they are justly entitled unto in America ; and also to carry all sorts of goods and merchandizes, or effects, from one part of his Majesty’s dominions to any part thereof ; and that no goods, being so carried, are by any treaty subsisting between the Crowns of Great Britains and Spain, to be deemed as contraband or prohibited goods, and that the searching of such ships on the open seas, under pretence of their carrying contraband or prohibited goods, is a violation and infraction of the treaties subsisting between the two Crowns.
2. Resolved, That it appears to this House, that as well before, as since the execution of the treaty of Seville, on the part of Great Britain, divers ships and vessels, with their cargoes belonging to British subjects, have been violently seized and confiscated by the Spaniards, upon pretences altogether unjust and groundless ; and that many of the sailors on board these ships have been injuriously and barbarously imprisoned and ill-treated ; and that thereby the liberty of navigation and commerce belonging to his Majesty’s subjects by the law of nations, and by virtue of the treaties subsisting between the crowns of Great Britain and Spain, hath been unwarrantably infringed and interrupted, to the great loss and damage of our merchants, and in direct violation of the said treaties.
3. Resolved, That it appears to this House, that frequent application have been made, on the part of his Majesty, to the court of Spain, in a manner the most agreeable to treaties, and to the peace and friendship subsisting betwixt the two crowns, for redressing the notorious abuses and grievances before-mentioned, and preventing the like for the future, and for obtaining adequate satisfaction to his injured subjects; which, in the event, have proved entirely fruitless, and of no effect.
We think it our duty, on this important occasion, humbly to represent to your Majesty, that we are most sensibly affected with the many and grievous injuries and losses sustained by your Majesty’s trading subjects, by means of these unwarrantable depredations and seizures ; and to give your Majesty the strongest and most sincere assurances, that in case your friendly and powerful instances for procuring restitution and reparation to your injured subjects, and for the future security of their trade and navigation, shall fail of having their due effect and influence on the Court of Spain, and shall not be able to obtain that real satisfaction and security, which your Majesty may in justice expect; we will zealously and cheerfully concur in all such measures, as shall become necessary for the support of your Majesty’s honour, the preservation of our navigation and commerce, and the common good of these kingdoms.
The King replied as follows:
My Lords ;
I am sensibly touched with the many hardships and injuries sustained by my trading subjects in America, from the cruelties and unjust depredations of the Spaniards. You may be assured of my care to procure satisfaction and reparation for the losses they have already suffered, and security for the freedom of navigation for the future ; and to maintain to my people the full enjoyment of all the rights to which they are entitled by treaty, and the law of nations.—I doubt not but I shall have your concurrence for the support of such measures, as may be necessary for that purpose.
What Does This Mean For Us?
There might at first seem no reason why a London newspaper report of a Royal Proclamation relating to Spanish depredations (made at the beginning of the exact same month that the Hollow River Cipher was made) should have sent the crew of a French pirate ship into such a tailspin that they would want to hide their cannon and treasure on a small Canadian island.
However, I suspect that what had been going on was that these particular French pirates had been using a Spanish flag as a pretence for stopping British ships: this was exactly what had been going on for some years, and what had so incensed the British Houses of Parliament. And now the game was up.
Prize Papers for Eagle / Aigle / Aguila
Separately, Paul Relkin wrote to me about his search for L’Aigle in the French marine archives (more on that another day). But it struck me that if that same ship’s luck ran out, it might well have been captured and its papers held by the British Admiralty. So I decided to have a look there (it’s all in the National Archives).
However, the picture that emerged was that the name Eagle / l’Aigle seems to have been extremely popular with British and French small boat owners: and so there is actually a long stream of these mentioned in the archives, from 1742 onwards:
1742: HCA 32/95/4 Captured ship: L’Aguila or Eagle of San Sebastian (master Louis Grenier) – a Spanish privateer (140 tons, 12 guns, 110 men); taken on 4 July 1742 by HMS Lyme (John Pritchard commanding) and brought into Plymouth.
1743: HCA 32/137/19 and HCA 32/138/27 Captured ship: Nuestra Senora del Rosario (El Aguila): master Francisco Ximenes – Spanish register ship for West Indies (95 tons, 43 men and passenger: formerly English?). Taken 24 Nov 1743 off Cape Cantin on the Barbary Coast
1744: HCA 32/95/23 Captured ship: L’Aigle Volant (master Dutertre Le Marie) – a French privateer (140 tons, 14 carriage guns, 9 swivel guns, 110 men); taken on 15/26 June 1744 about 40 leagues from the Island de Groy on the coast of France 26 June 1744. There is also a printed advertisement for the sale of L’Aigle Volant in HCA 30/232.
1745: HCA 32/124/11 Captured ship: Le St Jean Baptiste: master Jean Fignoux – French merchant ship, formerly British merchant ship the Eagle, recaptured coming from Guadeloupe.
1755: HCA 32/163/9 Captured ship: L’Aigle (master Jacques Samelin) – a French merchant ship seized in 1755.
1756: HCA 32/195/7 Captured ship: La Gabrielle (Lagabriell) of Nantes (master Pierre Alexis Ricard) – a French merchant ship for West Indies, with letter of marque, carrying troops, arms, stores, etc; formerly the Eagle (L’Aigle).
1757: HCA 32/161/13 Captured ship: L’Aigle (master Mathieu Desclaux or Mathieu Declaux) – a French merchant ship for West Indies.
1758: HCA 32/163/10 Captured ship: L’Aigle (master [unknown] Vessum) – a French merchant ship, apparently one of the French ships taken in the attack on Senegal, May 1758, since the docketing is L’Aigle, Vessum master’.
1758/9: HCA 32/258 Ship: L’Aigle, Master: La Porte, Remarks: French
1758: HCA 32/249/16 mention of a French privateer L’Aigle de Bayonne (master Georges Mathieu Forestiere) operating in the North Atlantic.
1761: HCA 32/168/23 Captured ship: St Antoine (L’Aigle) (master Germain Boyer) – a French merchant ship in the Levant trade with letter of marque.
1762: HCA 32/162/5 Captured ship: L’Aigle (master Augustin Fichet) – a French privateer.